


Reinitio

by benzycantwrite



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Death, Death, F/F, How Do I Tag, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 20:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18535084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benzycantwrite/pseuds/benzycantwrite
Summary: ***REWRITE OF PREVIOUS WORK "SILEO"***Four teenagers encounter mysterious web page. Owen, the "leader", becomes invested in discovering the secret of the page...but is he ready to accept the consequences of his actions?





	Reinitio

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is a re-write of my previous story with some major changes, but the characters' first names and personalities are pretty much the same. Enjoy!

I couldn’t believe Chelsea convinced me to do this. As I stomped around the library, I huffed and crossed my arms. She spared a glance at me from over her shoulder, and I managed a half-smile that probably appeared a lot let convincing than I hoped. Her smile faltered.  
“Owen, I know you don’t like the idea of studying, but we have to. We have finals coming up.”  
“So?” I fire back. I’d never studied for finals before. I never passed either, but a rich family led to getting the grade regardless of how you did.  
“Spoiled rich kid,” she mumbled as if she had read my mind.  
Nicole sat with Patrick at the center table. The computer in front of her had some sort of browser game on it, and no one else even bothered to call her out or even look at her. Her brown hair was flipped over her shoulder rather elegantly as she glanced my way, eyelashes fluttering. I rolled my eyes.  
Patrick, though, actually had a book in front of him as well as some kind of web page on his computer. He was your stereotypical goody-two-shoes. Hell, he probably still had a bedtime despite being seventeen. If he didn’t enforce it, his stupidly strict mother would. His father wasn’t in the picture, but I’m sure he would make sure little Patty went to bed at a decent time if he was. Patrick waved at me, chocolate eyes crinkling at the sides with his smile.  
“Hey, Owen. Come here, look at what I found,” he urged, accent twisting his words a bit  
I made my way to him, stepping over the large pile of books Nicole should have had finished already. “What is it?”  
He pointed to the page on the computer. It was strange, to say the least. It had stars on a black background that shined as obnoxiously bright as the white text written all over it. I leaned in closer. I didn't think the text was in English and it looked like it had been the result of a fourth-grade science project with all the pictures of the Milky Way galaxy plastered all over it. I assumed that it had been made by one of Patrick’s siblings, but he interrupted my train of thought before it even finished.  
“It’s just a bunch of random letters as the site name. I found it by accident,” Patrick told me as his eyes focused on the keyboard.  
“Dude,” I began, lightly moving Patrick out of his chair so I could slide in, “how did you even get here?”  
“I told you. Accident.” Patrick paused, then clarified: “Key-smashing.”  
Chelsea cleared her throat from the table next to ours. “I don’t hear any studying.”  
“I’d be concerned if you could hear me silently memorizing fractions,” I replied. She rolled her eyes. I brushed her off, then returned to Patrick. Noting the way the letters seemed totally random, I wrote them down on a piece of paper.  
I attempted to read out his key-smash. “‘Olswbz’?”   
Patrick laughed, the sound light and cheery. “The letters felt right, so I added “.com” to it.”  
I didn’t know what he meant by saying they “felt right”, but I silently agreed with a nod. I turned to Nicole. She had somehow remained silent the whole time. It didn’t feel like her. My hand found her shoulder and she jumped as if coming out of a deep trance. Her face scrunched up in an almost painful expression.  
“Oh, did you finish talking to your boyfriend?”  
“Nicole,” Patrick warned.  
“Shut it, blondie. I’m talking to Owen.”  
“You always are,” I added.  
Her eyes were as blue as the ocean, but in that moment they were an ominous summer storm. It was no secret that she had romantic feelings for me, but she had never acted out like that before. She had a tendency to be jealous of anyone that even looked at me. It wasn’t fair to Chelsea or Patrick.  
“Nicole, don’t be like this. Not in public.” I tried to reason with her despite knowing it wouldn’t end well. She had a mouth that would put any sailor to shame and she wasn’t afraid to use it. That time, though, she picked up her books and stormed away from the table. Her gaze, dedicated entirely to whatever was on her phone, held a sharpness to it that even the sharpest knife couldn’t match.  
“God, what’s her problem?” Patrick’s attention turned back to the web page as he returned to his seat. He always focused on his task and nothing else. It seemed this page was his new interest.  
“I don’t know, Pat,” I finally replied, taking the seat Nicole sat in. “You know she gets jealous easily.”  
“I know, but...” Patrick shrunk into himself. “I don’t know why it has to be you.”  
“If not me, then it would be someone else. She can’t stop. You know that better than anyone. How long have you known her?”  
Patrick remained silent.  
“Pat?”  
“Sorry. What?”  
“Never mind.” I offered a smile and ruffled his hair. He didn’t even react. I could tell something was wrong, but he never talked about his feelings. Getting anything out of him wouldn’t be easy. I caught something out of the corner of my eye and my ears picked up the sound of someone whispering. I assumed Nicole was shit-talking me again.   
How wrong I was.  
As I turned to face Nicole, my face crinkled up like paper. Nicole wasn't even there. In fact, she wasn't anywhere to be seen. What I did see didn't seem real. There was a blurry figure with letters inside it moving around the room. I wasn't sure what it was, but it looked like a character that hadn't fully loaded into his or her video game yet. Like it was a bunch of code. Those letters inside of it, though. They said olswbz. Bolting out of my chair, I followed the figure down an aisle of bookshelves and around the corner. By the time I turned, though, it was gone.  
“Owen?” Chelsea peeked down the aisle where I stood in disbelief. I knew what I saw. I also knew my friends. They wouldn't believe me if I told them. I shook my head and hurried back up the row past Chelsea. Despite not being able to see her face, I knew she was frowning. I sat myself down in the empty chair and pulled out my phone. I searched the letters only to find sites that were in another language. Nothing useful, but I just had to keep searching.  
On the 50th page, though, a blue link caught my eye. Cipher codes. Of course! Why hadn't I thought to decode the letters? I must have tried seven different ciphers before coming across one that actually decoded to make sense.  
“Patrick? You might wanna look at this.” I waved him over and he nearly stumbled over from his hurried movements. He leaned over my shoulder, hot breath brushing against my ear, and read the words on my phone.  
“Helpus. What does that mean?”  
“Pat… Those are the letters of that site. I decoded them.” Our eyes met. “Did you make that site?”  
“Owen. I'm stupid and quit my coding class. Remember?”  
“Then who the hell made that site? That ‘keysmash’ could not have been a coincidence. Patty, I know what I saw.”  
There was a beat of silence, then Patrick's blonde brows lowered. “What did you see?”  
I shook my head, my thoughts running wild inside. It didn't make sense. I know I saw those letters. Did no one else see what I saw? Did Patrick think I was crazy? “Nothing, Pat.” Chelsea ducked behind a bookshelf as if looking for what I viewed. From the confused look she wore when she came back to us, she hadn't found it.  
“Rivers, are you feeling okay?” Chelsea asked me.  
“No, I just came to school with a damn fever. Of course I'm feeling fine.” I snapped. When she flinched backwards, I muttered a quiet apology, then added: “I saw...a blur. It was, like, in the shape of a human, but...blurry. It had letters inside of it. Those letters.” Glancing down at my phone, I put it in hibernation mode, then stood from my seat. “It's already after four. My mom's probably waiting for me.”  
Ignoring Patrick's concerned look and his request that I stay, I hurried past the worried onlookers and out the door.


End file.
